Rivers Govt Destroys 27 Illegal Refinery Sites, Arrests Eight Persons
The Rivers State government has intensified efforts to stop oil bunkering and illegal refining in the state.
The Council Chairman, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area, Rowland Sekibo, noted that the special anti-bunkering task force has destroyed 27 illegal refinery sites in the past one week. The task force has also arrested eight persons for pipeline vandalism in the area, Channels Television reported.
Sekibo charged members of the locality to provide the task force with valuable information to tackle illegal oil activities in the state.
“My advice to them (communities) is that they should just give us information, because the truth is that it is difficult for many communities to fight against the people that indulge in this illegal bunkering because they are criminals and you can’t take ordinary hands to a gunfight.
“But those of us that are responsible, when we get information, we will go after them,”Sekibo said.
Sekibo also initiated the special anti-bunkering task force in his LGA.
The campaign against the illegal activities is spearheaded by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and driven by the local governments.
Governor Wike had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the 23 local government chairmen in the state to provide a comprehensive list of illegal refineries and their operators in their various localities.
He made this statement when he hosted the heads of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air force, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Police, the Directorate of State Service, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps at Government House recently.
